Car-coupling.



0.1. G. RICKERSON.

CAR COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 28.19I5.

1,1 79,650, Patented Apr. 18, 1916.

CLINTON J'. Gr. RICKERSON,`OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

CAR-COUPLING.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, CLINTON J. Gr. RICK- nRsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented certain new and useful .Improvements in Car-Couplings, of which the following is a specication.

Thisinvention relates to improvements in car couplers and particularly to couplers so constructed that they may be coupled or uncoupled and the knuckles be set for coupling without the necessity of getting between the cars.

It is an object of the invention to provide a car coupler in which the coupling knuckle A taken upon the line may be released for uncoupling cars no matter whether there is a pulling strain upon the coupling or not.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a coupler having latching means for holding the knuckle in close position which have a toggle like action whereby the parts may be released irrespective of any pull upon the coupler.

1t is also an object of the-invention to provide such a coupler with means coperating with the uncoupling means for setting the knuckle in open position and in readiness for the neXt coupling operation.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification: Figure 1 is a horizontal sectional view taken through the `,car coupler so as to show the knuckle locking and operating means,the shank or stem of thecoupler being shown in top plan view. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse sectional view 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail horizontal sectional view similar to Fig. 1 but showing only a portion of the coupler and illustrating the position of the parts in readiness for coupling. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view similar to Fig. 2 but illustrating the knuckle locking and opening means in the position assumed when the said knuckle is open. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detail sectional view showing the adjacent ends of the toggle like latch pieces provided with intermeshing corrugations upon the meeting ends thereof.

The details and features of the invention will now be more specifically described and had to the accompanying drawing in which 5 indicates a coupler and 6 the knuckle thereof, pivotally se- Specicaton of Letters Patent.

when the knuckle is thrown open and- Patented apr. is, 1916.

Application led July 28, 1915. Serial No. 42,316.

cured inv position within the head of the coupler by the usual pivot pin 7, the end contour of the coupler head at 8 is shaped 1n the usual way for receiving and closely tting upon the knuckle of the coupler upon an adjacent car and the form of the said coupler and of the knuckle 6 is preferably made in accordance with the usual Master Car Builders design.

In thepresent coupler the tongue 9 of the knuckle is made substantially as in car couplers made in accordance with the Master Car Builers design, a projection 10 however being added to the inner end or point thereof for permitting of th-e throwing open of the knuckle as will be hereinafter more fully described. The locking of the said knuckle 6 and the means, for throwing the knuckle into open position form important parts of the present invention. The locking means preferably comprises a sliding member or bolt 11 having the recesses 12 therein adapted to receive the end of the tongue 9 and the projection or heel 10 thereof. The said locking member is arranged to move in a passage 13 which eXtends transversely of the coupler head, the said passage forming a guide way for the movement of the member 11. The member 11 is adapted to be held and locked in tongue holding position by means of latch members 14 and 15 which are applied preferably in alinement with the said member 11 and which have a toggle like action in controlling the operation of the said member 11. The opposite outer ends of the said latch members 14 and 15'are pivotally mounted so that the said members may rock with respect to each other when raised, their inner ends -being applied together and` adapted tok come opposite each other when said members are depressed for blocking the inward movement of the said member 1l. The said outer latch member 15v is provided with oppositely protectin trunnions 16 adapted to engage recesses 1% formedat the outer ends of the passage way 13, the said recesses being opened at the top for facilitating the putting of the latch member 15 in position when the parts of the coupling are assembled. The other latch member 14 is similarly pivoted but is carried by the tongue holding member 11. The said member is provided with end projections 18 and 19 extending from each side thereof. and having recesses 20 therein adapted to receive trunnions 21 which project from the sides of the latch member 14. The said projections 19 and 20 move in the Said passage way 13 with the tongue holding member 11, the said member however being of a slightly less ywidth and being guided by ledges 22 and'23 formedinthe upper and lower corner portions of said passage way 13 as will be clearlyunderstood by reference to the drawing.

When the knuckle is in closed position as shown in Fig. 1, it is locked against opening by means of the .latch members 14 and 15 which fall into the position shownin Fig. 2 so as to chock any'movement in themember 11 with a toggle likeaction. The toggle act-l v ing device thus employed can only be broken erate the said latch members 14 and 15a that the ends of said latch members 14l and lifting member or pin 24 is provided and arranged to move up and down in an opening 25 jformed ,in the coupler head. The upper end of said pin is preferably rounded so 15 will move easily thereon. The abutting ends of said members 14 and 15y are free to' 24. The end of the inem-" ber 14 adjacent tothe bolt or member 11 is V` rise with the pin prevented from rising by a projecting .por-v tion 42 thereon, which engages an overhanging flange or projection 43 on said member 11. The outer end ofthe member 15 will not ybe lifted by the pin24 because of the depth of the recesses 17 and their relation tov the walls of the coupler head. The lower end fof the pin 24 is provided withy a head having an opening 26 therein through which a lever 27 is passed, one end of said lever being pivoted at 28 between depending lugs 29 upon the under `side of the coupler head.` The opposite end of the upwardly and is bifurcated to receive a knuckle. opening member 30.` The said knuckle opening member l 30 yis pivotedat 31 in the bifurcated end of the lever'27 and is formed at its outer end-,with an eye or loop' 32 which lmay be connected by a .link or chain with any ordinary liftingmechanism placed upon the end of the car and not shown kin the drawing. the saidwmember 30 is length toreach well into 'made of sufficient the passage way 13 and to extend to( the position shown in Fig.'v

4, for pushing the tongue holding member 11 inwardly and positively throwing 'the' knuckle intoopen position. In order topre- A.30 from falling in theV member 1l is the recesses in the member 11 and the lever 27 is curvedl The inner end ofi ventl the. member30 from-*dropping out of its proper place itsinner end lis provided with oppositely lprojecting bosses 33, to

ycatchrupon thev inner faces' of flanges 34 which I them, forming receive the said member 30 between member operates. To facilitate the assembling of the parts of the coupler the end of the passage way 13 adjacent to the member 30 is normally closed bythe removable plate 35, which isV generally secured in place by any suitable bolts 36, and the flanges 34 are generallycarried'by said plate. The said a slot through'w-hich the said f member-30 can thus be pulled :outwardly until the bosses 33 engag'ethe flanges 34 but the -said flanges and the closed lower ends of recesses formed thereby prevent the member outv 'of operative position.v

The lever 28 alsocarries means for preventingthe pin24 from sliding under the same too yfar whenthe parts are'in. their lower position, such means being-usually in the form of upon one side of said lever 27.k v

In operation the kknuckle 16 having been left in the open-position shown in Fig. 3

is -in readiness for coupling with the coupler of an adjacent car. In this position the latch members y14 and 15 are foldedupwardly as ,illustrated in. Fig., 4 andthe tongue holding member is at the inner eX-' treme of its movement as illustrated in Figs.

3and 4.l When in'y this position the opening the projection 10 vand 9 which vcarries the same. vThe lever 27 and the knuckle opening member 30 will have the boss or projection 37 formed j in position to-receive the end of the tongueV dropped back to the position shown in Fig. f

2 carrying the pin 24 with ered position. IVhen the said. knuckle 6 is forced to its coupled position, as in a c'oupling operation, the tongue 8 swings into jection 10 thereon .pushes the said member l1 to the outer extreme of its movement.,

until the said knuckle hasv reached its coupled position. By this time the member 11 will have moved far enough for the latchr members 14 and 15 to. drop opposite each kother in their lowermost positions 'and `so them to its lowthat they fall alittle below a plane passed through their pivot points.

positively lock the tongue engaging member 1 1 and the saidv knuckle in its closedk position. Vhen it is necessary to uncou'plel the devicethe operator from one or the other anism and thereby kpulls wardly. The inner end of the member 30 slides upwardly and upon the end ofthe member 11, the lever 27 being at the same time raised, so

the eye 32 up-4 and permitting the imembers 14 and 15 to fold. A continued lifting of the member that the pin 24 is lifted forV lbreaking the toggle like latch mechanism They will thus .side of the caroperates the lifting mech-j i 30 forces the inner end thereof into thepassage way-13, so that the member 11 is positively pushed far enough to cause it to push upon the projection 10 carried by the tongue 9 and thus insure a full opening of the knuckle 6. After thus uncoupling the knuckle the lever 27 with the pin 24C and the member 30 drop into their lowered positions again, and the parts are in position for the next coupling of the device.

It will be evident that the minor details of construction may be considerably varied within the spirit and scope of the invention,

and that mechanical equivalents of the vaalinement with each other rious parts of the coupler may be substituted therefor if desired.

As shown in Fig. 5 the meeting ends of latch members as 38 and 39 may be corrugated or serrated as at 40 and Ll1 whereby their meeting edges will not be able to slip by each other.

It will be observed that in the coupler of the present invention the means for locking the coupler knuckle in coupling position is easily operated for releasing the knuckle in the uncoupling operation.. The mechanism is so constructed that it can be readily operated even when a pulling strain is still exerted upon the coupler, thus avoiding the necessity of backing up the cars or rolling stock in order to ease up on the couplers in readiness for the uncoupling operation as has been heretofore required with couplers in use.

What is claimed is:

1. A car coupler comprisinga head, a knuckle having a 'holding tongue, a tongue holding member capable of controlling said tongue and a gravity actuated folding latch mechanism for locking the said holding member when retaining the knuckle in closed position.

2. A car coupler having a pivoted knuckle, a reciprocating bolt adapted to enga-ge the said knuckle for holding it and independent abutment members, adapted to come into said bolt.

8. In a car coupler provided with a pivoted knuckle, a recessed holding member adapted to receive the tongue of the coupler and disconnected latch members adapted to come into alinement with each other for locking the said holding member and retaining the knuckle in coupled position.

4. Acar coupler having a coupling knuckle provided with a locking tongue, a transverse bolt having a recess provided with a locking shoulder adapted to engage said tongue, and independent latch members interposed between the said bolt and the body portion of the coupler and coperating for locking the bolt when the knuckle is in coupled position.

5. A car coupler having a pivoted knuckle, a bolt for holding the same, pivoted latch members adapted to be brought in end to for locking the releasing the end alinementwith each other for locking thebolt and axrelease Amember adapted to throw the free ends of said latch members apart for releasing the bolt.

6. Acoupler having a pivoted knuckle, abolt for holding the knuckle, end to end rocking members adapted -to come together at their free ends for controllingvthe movement of said bolt, and a pin adapted to throw said freeends apart for releasing the bolt.

7 A car coupler comprising a head having a knuckle pivoted therein and provided with a transverse passage, a transversely moving bolt mounted in said passage and having a recess fo-r engaging the tongue of the knuckle, said bolt being also provided with a latch engaging socket, a latch member movably engaging said socket and an opposing latch member shouldered in the head of the coupler, the structure being such that when the latch members are brought into alinement with each other with their ends opposing, the bolt is locked against movement and when the latch members are bowed to one side the bolt is released.

8. A car coupler comprising a head and a knuckle pivoted therein and having a tongue formed with a locking end portion and a bolt actuating face, a bolt movably mounted in said head and having a socket engaging the bolt moving` face of the said tongue and having a shoulder adapted to engage the locking end of the said tongue, articulating latch members interposed between the head and the said bolt and means for moving said latch members for releasing the bolt and permitting the knuckle to uncouple.

9. A car coupler having a pivoted knuckle and a transversely moving bolt provided with a recess for receiving the tongue of the coupler, said recess having a tongue holding shoulder, a latch member journaled in the socket formed in said bolt, an opposing latch member journaled in the head of the coupler, the adjacent ends of the said latch members being adapted to rock upon each other for bolt, a pin having a head for rocking said latch members and a lever for moving said pin.

l0. A car coupler having a pivoted knuckle, a tongue engaging member having a recess for receiving the said tongue of said knuckle and means for locking said holding member in tongue holding position, means for releasing said locking mechanism and means operating in conjunction therewith for positively moving the said tongue holding member and positively moving the tongue so as to open the coupler.

11. A coupling for cars comprising a coupler head having a transversely movable knuckle holding member provided with a recess therein adapted to receive the tongue of the knuckle, a knuckle pivoted in said head and having a tongue adapted to engage I moved inward 4: i :Limena theepening in-said holding member and have ing a projection also enterngthesad recess whereby the .tongue may be moved to open the coupler when the hlding memberl is ly and lav member adapted to pnsh .the `seid holding member inwardly when `the coupler is llllcoupled.

'In testimny whereof, I have hereunto Set my hand, presence of two wltnesses.

lCLINTON J. G. RICKERSON.` Y*

Witnesses: v

GASSELL SEVERANCE, EARLE R. POLLARD.

Gbpfies .o1 @his patent may be obtaing forr live cents elaeh, by addresilng the commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

